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NEW YORK, April 23- U.S. Analysts blamed the market downdraft on a combination of factors, including a perceived hawkish tilt in the minutes of the Bank of England's previous meeting as well as investors paring heavy holdings in Bunds due to the European Central Bank's bond purchase programs, and concerns about Greece striking a deal with its creditors.

April 23- U.S. stock index futures fell on Thursday as investors digested results from tech heavyweights, disappointing economic data from the euro zone and China, and ahead of weekly U.S. jobless claims figures. *European shares fell after growth in Germany's private sector slowed and French business activity barely grew in April, while factory activity in...

TOKYO, April 23- Japanese government bonds fell on Thursday, pressured by an overnight selloff in U.S. Treasuries after a sharp rise in the yields on German Bunds. An auction of 40- year Japanese government bonds produced a highest accepted yield of 1.470 percent, with 33.2167 percent of the bids accepted at that yield, the Ministry of Finance said.

WASHINGTON/ NEW YORK, April 23- Sections of the U.S. financial system that may be vulnerable to investor panic are raising concerns inside the Federal Reserve, as policymakers preparing for the first interest-rate hike in nearly a decade seek to ensure that the market is ready and able to handle it whenever it happens. "Some open-ended mutual funds offer daily...

April 22- If the typical mutual fund investor were a racehorse there would be a humane veterinary argument for euthanasia. Mutual fund investors had a typical year in 2014, according to the annual Dalbar Quantitative Analysis of Investor Behavior study, which is to say they lagged the underlying markets, badly. The average equity fund investor made just 5.5...

*Brent advances on Yemen, WTI crude choppy. NEW YORK, April 22- Stocks in major markets drifted higher on Wednesday as investors took an optimistic view of the latest batch of U.S. corporate earnings, while U.S. "People are seeing the negative effects of foreign exchange and that's not been drastically worse than expected," said Michael Sansoterra, portfolio manager...

April 22- Michigan Governor Rick Snyder on Wednesday signed into law a bill aimed at reducing interest rate costs for an upcoming Detroit bond sale. Detroit privately placed $275 million of variable-rate bonds with Barclays Capital to finance its Dec. 10 exit from the biggest-ever municipal bankruptcy. The move is expected to result in investment-grade...

District Judge Thomas Griesa in Manhattan said the funds can seek documents from Argentina and banks including Deutsche Bank AG related to Tuesday's $1.4 billion bond sale to determine if any assets exist in the United States that could satisfy billions of dollars in unpaid judgments. The ruling applies to Argentina and banks subscribed to the offering,...

Judge Thomas Griesa came in response to a request by holdout investor NML Ltd, an affiliate of hedge fund Elliott Management, that Deutsche Bank turn over details of the U.S. dollar-denominated debt offering held this week.

*Oil advances on Yemen lingering concern. NEW YORK, April 22- Stocks in major markets were little changed on Wednesday as the latest round of U.S. corporate earnings kept equities in check, while U.S. "We are moving along within a pretty tight range and that will likely continue until you start to see some shift," said Ed Hyland, global investment specialist at JP Morgan...

*Immediate risk from Greece reduced for time being. A stronger-than-expected rise in domestic existing home sales in March revived bets the Federal Reserve would raise interest rates later this year, overshadowing concerns about the absence of a deal between Greece and its creditors. Traders had snapped up Bunds since the European Central Bank began its 1.1...

BOSTON, April 22- State Street, which sold the first exchange-traded fund in 1993, is falling flat in its bid to win back market share in the ETF industry by wooing advisers to retail investors, with many advisers saying the bank doesn't do enough to support them. State Street, which lost its long-time No. 2 spot among ETF providers in the first quarter to Vanguard...

But Reuters polls of more than 250 economists across Europe and North America show only modest upgrades to growth forecasts and a reluctance to relinquish a depressed inflation view, despite the rush of rate cuts and central bank cash that most respondents believe is far from over. Germany's DAX index has rallied more than 20 percent since the start of the year...

MOSCOW, April 22- Russia's Finance Ministry sold 10 billion roubles of OFZ treasury bonds at the first of two auctions on Wednesday at an average yield of 11.72 percent, Reuters data showed. The Finance Ministry sold all of the bonds on offer. The ministry will auction 15 billion roubles of OFZs maturing in 2017 later on Friday.

LONDON, April 22- Greek bond yields held around their highest levels since the country's default in 2012 on Wednesday, but deepening fears that it might leaving the euro zone had little impact on the bloc's other heavily indebted countries. Analysts drew a little comfort from the fact that yields close to 30 percent for two-year debt had at least not risen, while...

TOKYO, April 22- Japanese government bonds inched up on Wednesday, with the 2- year yield turning negative for the first time since late January as a result of the Bank of Japan's bond-buying operations. The benchmark 10- year yield inched down half a basis point to 0.300 percent. The BOJ offered to buy 375 billion yen of JGBs in the 1- year to 3- year zone, 375 billion...

CHICAGO, April 21- The Chicago Board of Education paid a stiff penalty for its fiscal woes on Tuesday as investors demanded fat yields for its $295.7 million general obligation bond sale. Municipal bonds carrying the same ratings as the Chicago school system, A-minus by Standard& Poor's and BBB-minus by Fitch Ratings, would normally trade only 85 to 100 basis...

NEW YORK, April 21- The European Union is looking to again postpone imposing new capital rules on EU banks that trade derivatives through non-EU clearing houses, according to a document seen Tuesday. But while the EU's executive body, the European Commission, has granted equivalence to countries such as Singapore, it has pointedly refused to do so as yet for the...

*ECB may reduce collateral value for Greek banks- Bloomberg. Treasuries prices fell on Tuesday, adding to the prior day's losses, as some traders pared their bullish bets tied to soft domestic data and concerns whether Greece would hammer out a deal with its creditors before it runs out cash. "There's not a lot of conviction in either direction for the market," said...